CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT News

The term 'tourbillon' has two meanings - it is the French word for "whirlwind" and also a device used in watchmaking to improve the accuracy of a timepiece. Both definitions feel apt when listening to Tourbillon, the latest release on Central Processing Unit from Australian producer Tim Koch. Following on from Koch's CPU debut Spinifex back in 2018 - an album that initially emerged via minidisc - Tourbillon is a four-track EP which dazzles with its perpetual-motion post-IDM productions.

These tracks draw you into their webs by forming dense interlocking sonic patterns over the course of several minutes. While the rhythmic programming and lattice of alien percussion tones can appear discombobulating at first, Koch also bewitches the listener with the slyly melodic synth work that he laces throughout Tourbillon.

Opening track 'Estranger' is a fine example of this combination. The first section here is a blend of blown-out drum sounds which comes off like an industrial electro tune run through a meat grinder. However, the track soon blossoms with the introduction of some amazingly atmospheric synth pads, and the two contrasting elements come together for a strange and rather beautiful whole.

'Estranger' finds a mirror-image in Tourbillon's final cut 'Hankert', a track in which more of those gurgling percussive tones play off the rich chord progressions that chirrup away in the background. Between 'Estranger' and 'Hankert' we get two propulsive grooves in the form of 'Disfugue' and 'Dreitark'.

How, then, to contextualize such unique material? Calum Gunn's recent outing for CPU is a good point of comparison, and the electronics here bang and whirr in a manner which nods to the post-IDM innovations of artists like μ-Ziq. One can also see Tourbillon as descended from acts like Cabaret Voltaire, the industrial electronics innovators from CPU's home city of Sheffield. However, Tourbillon is ultimately an EP which exists in its own lane, an open-minded and open-hearted set which runs with the futurist spirit of CPU and Koch's previous home of Merck Records.

Australian producer Tim Koch returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with Tourbillon, an EP of otherworldly post-IDM productions.

RIYL: μ-Ziq, Calum Gunn, Proswell, Modeselektor

Automatic Tasty (Jonny Dillon) has been away from Central Processing Unit for five years now, releasing on labels such as AC Records and Furthur Electronix in the intervening time. However, new EP The Future Is Not What It Used To Be shows that the chemistry between label and artist is still in good nick by offering up four tracks of contemplative electro-boogie.

While the preceding CPU/Automatic Tasty drop may be 2015's The Life Parochial, The Future Is Not What It Used To Be actually has more in common with Sentimentalist's Choice, Automatic Tasty's CPU debut which came out back in 2013. This is not due to a huge stylistic shift - all three records bring together classic electro, techno and boogie sounds to create charming and melodious tracks - but more to do with the tone of the record. You see, while The Life Parochial was a squelchy machine-funk delight, The Future Is Not What It Used To Be is a more pensive affair befitting its title.

This isn't to say that The Future Is Not What It Used To Be is a muted EP. Far from it - this record contains some of the most gorgeous electro joints you'll hear all year. The vibe is established on its eponymous opening jam, a vocoder-laced production pitched somewhere between the more ruminative tunes on Posthuman's 2018 LP Mutant City Acid and contemporary boogie acts such as Funkineven/Steven Julien and Galaxians. The track is made by the beautiful, bittersweet timbre of its synths, and these are maintained on following number 'Romance In The Old Country'. Given the offbeat skip in its groove and sunset-glow ruefulness of the keys, 'Romance In The Old Country' is a cut which invokes the instrumentals of Jessy Lanza LPs - and even (whisper it) a little Sade.

The Future Is Not What It Used To Be is an EP of evocative track titles, but there may be none more accurate than first B-side 'Rising Sun'. Here, Automatic Tasty tweaks the wistfulness of the A-side cuts into something more uplifting. While a thoughtful quality remains in 'Rising Sun's soft synths and skittering 808s, the track is driven by the exuberant energy of the 'Woo! Yeah!' drum break to become the sort of tune you drop as dawn begins to break over the rave. 'Rising Sun's afterglow falls over the closing track 'Adventures In The World Of Becoming', a steady IDM-electro pulse that channels the spirit of Aphex Twin's seminal Selected Ambient Works 85-92.

'The future is not what it used to be - no past, no memory'. With this robo-voiced intonation, Automatic Tasty returns to Sheffield's Central Processing Unit with four moving, poignant machine-funk tracks.

Calum Gunn has spent the past few years becoming a key figure in the European electronic avant-garde. As well as releasing his own music through labels like Entr'acte, FLUF and Tsuku Boshi, the Berlin-based Gunn also helms Conditional Records, one of the most forward-thinking computer-music imprints to emerge in recent times.

Gunn's Addenda EP, his debut drop for Central Processing Unit, contains some of his most dynamic work to date. While his commitment to experimentalism remains, these four tracks represent a clear shift in focus for Gunn - namely that, for perhaps the first time in his career, he is making music that is club-friendly. A whole host of dancefloor innovators are recalled when listening to Addenda - particularly Autechre, Analord-era AFX and several of Mark Pritchard's projects as well as Gunn's contemporaries Rian Treanor and Renick Bell.

These tracks never sit still, their rhythms constantly evolving and turning themselves over. Addenda's first two cuts use metronomic hi-hats to keep these ever-changing grooves in check. With its thwacking kicks and snares, opener 'Esephony' enters the fray with the heft of an early Wiley riddim. Atop these drums we find squeaky half-melodies interlocking and breaking apart, meaning that the overall effect is not dissimilar to the tweaking beats that Pritchard came up with as part of Africa Hitech. 'Esephony' is followed by 'Moebu', another track that harks to grime through its fluttering lead synth. The way that this single-note line snakes above a slow, steady drum pulse pitches 'Moebu' halfway between Last Japan and rRoxymore.

Gunn increases the tempo in Addenda's second half. 'Ternenmarz' introduces itself with more blarts of bass, but whereas these were steady on 'Esephony' they now jump around unexpectedly. Gunn holds the erratic kicks in place with twittering hats and snares - indeed, when you factor in its gnarly synth lines, 'Ternenmarz' steers closer than any other cut here to the high-grade electro drops that CPU has made its name with. Closer 'Pins' supercharges the snap of 'Esephony' to 145 bpm before Gunn softens up the track with reverb-drenched synths that nod to the sombre post-grime of Mr. Mitch's Gobstopper Records.

With the Addenda EP, Calum Gunn has achieved something that proves elusive to so many producers - making club tracks that are at once innovative and immediate, their experimental tendencies serving to elevate their dancefloor impact.

RIYL: Rian Treanor, Africa Hitech, Autechre, Renick Bell, Brainwaltzera

Ever since dropping her critically-acclaimed debut LP Online Dating through Central Processing Unit back in 2017, Tryphème (Tiphaine Belin) has marked herself out as one of the more unique voices in contemporary electronica. We mean that literally - Belin's productions are characterised by frequent use of vocals, either processed to provide atmosphere or deployed high in the mix as passages of singing/spoken word. When these are wedded to her typically deft electronic productions the results are lush, atmospheric and moving.

Two years on from Online Dating and Tryphème has returned to CPU with the six-track Aluminia EP. While Online Dating leaned into a range of rave styles, Aluminia is more painterly, with Belin putting greater emphasis on timbre and texture. 'Lava', 'Fey' and 'Cry Silent Cry' are some of the most innovative tracks Belin has produced to date.

While another producer would allow listeners to luxuriate in such warm synth tones, Belin doesn't let you get comfortable, constantly surprising you with innovative structural choices or unexpected sounds. The way in which 'Lava' is agitated by chattering voices and processed singing recalls both the uncanniness of Holly Herndon and the maximalism of A. G. Cook, while the synth line that snakes through 'Cry Silent Cry' nods to Lorenzo Senni's recent trance deconstructions. Beats and bass take precedence in Aluminia's midsection.

This is the portion of the record which most closely recalls Online Dating - 'Eedyu' and 'X-Ray Mantra' are more settled than the other cuts on Aluminia, and it's here that the 90s electronica influences that so often inform CPU's output are most keenly felt. Those who enjoyed Bochum Welt's recent Seafire full-length - itself another CPU drop - will be able to get behind these tunes.

The two sides of Aluminia are combined in penultimate number 'In A Cyber Spiral'. The track's eerie beginning, with its ghostly vocals and nagging drums, is reminiscent of Hype Williams. Soon things morph into a leftfield digi-dub replete with speaker-crushing sub. Halfway through Belin wrong-foots us again, cleverly flipping the drums from half-time to a kind of fluttering breakbeat. It's the most diverse and unique production in a record full of them, drawing on everything from IDM to Eskibeat, and a track which furthers Tryphème's status as an exciting new artist on the European electronics scene.

Following his critically acclaimed 2017 debut album Apeiron, enigmatic artist Noumen, aka Andriy Vezdenko, returns to CPU with his second album 'Obscurium'.

Vezdenko demonstrates mastery in the studio again with his signature melodic, uneasy and challenging rhythms. Obscurium travels down a path seldom trod in experimental electronic music; thoroughly enjoyable and brimming with musicality.

Quintessential abstract electronics.

If you like Autechre's LP5 or Jega's Geometry you will love this.

When A&R get an email from a legend saying 'listen to these tracks, I think they're up your street' we knew we were on to something special.



Please welcome Biochip with their debut release 'Synthase'. Eight tracks of analog electro and acid techno, all recorded live. Very much of the Selected Ambient Works Vol. 1 ilk. Beautifully noisy, highly melodic and raw, with those emotional mid nineties IDM tendencies that very few successfully capture.

Biochip are Melissa Speirs and Julian Kochanowski from Montreal, Canada. Listening to Synthase you can tell they are huge fans of vintage analogue synths, magnetic tape and drum machines; their sound has a reassuring warmth and human feel to it.

We already can't wait to hear their next live sessions.

SDEM aka Tom Knapp lands on CPU with a cybernetic electro E.P. entitled 'Index Hole'.

4 tracks of exploratory electronics held together with expertly crafted - hip hop influenced beats. Knapp ran the legendary IDM label ICASEA with Team Doyobi member Alex Peverett and Satoshi Aizawa. Index Hole is certain to ease your Icasean withdrawal symptoms. Fans of ICASEA, Skam and the Gescom crew don't miss this.

96 Back, aka Evan Majumdar-Swift, returns to CPU with his debut album 'Excitable, Girl'. Bringing his thoroughbred Sheffield electronic heritage back into the spotlight, this album raises the bar in terms of quality and diversity. DJs and discerning home listeners will find plenty of favourites on this long player with dance floor igniters jostling alongside ambitious ambient moments. Lush Plaid-like melodies throughout will keep you hooked.

Evan firmly established himself in 2018 and is one of the hardest working artists on the scene, this album will only strengthen his presence on the electro grid.

Perhaps CPU's deepest foray into techno, Osaka-based artist Yuri Urano's 'Autline' E.P. draws parallels with the machine-like incremental builds of Sweet Exorcist / Richard H Kirk.

Plenty of variation with minimal down-tempo through to fierce industrial techno.

Urano's industrial sound is gaining a lot of attention in the Japanese techno scene and this E.P. will only galvanise her reputation.

S>>D aka Sean Dorris from Belfast delivers his debut album 'Co Intel Pro' on CPU. Refined sampling alongside hip hop influenced breaks sees S>>D operating in a similar dimension to VHS Head. Reminiscent of 1980s sci-fi soundtracks interwoven with IDM-tinged electro, haunting atmospheres prevail throughout with hints of a genre that has yet to emerge. Presented over 2x12" vinyl at 45rpm for superior sound quality.

Fans of Pye Corner Audio, Gescom or indeed anything on Skam will certainly dig this.

Alek Stark is responsible for some of the finest boutique vinyl releases available. His 808 boxes, DMX drum machine replica and plexi-glass sleeves for Fundamental Records are legendary in the electro fraternity.

Stark's attention to detail in everything he does is particularly apparent in his music - his tracks are all first class analogue electro. He pulls no punches on this E.P. with heavy 808 percussion alongside a myriad of modular noise and synth workouts.

Cold, robotic and reminiscent of early Psyche / BFC with deep chorused pads creating an off-world dystopian theme that runs throughout this release.